


You Can't Hide (your true self)

by iceyly



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! VRAINS
Genre: Don't copy to another site, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-26
Updated: 2019-05-29
Packaged: 2020-03-19 20:08:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,612
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18977515
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/iceyly/pseuds/iceyly
Summary: “Homura-kun, right?” Aoi says, taking a step towards him – he is going to get beaten up on her behalf, and for all that Aoi is a little glad that he is here, that she isn’t alone with the thugs anymore, she doesn’t want to see him harmed either. “You don’t have to–”“Don’t worry, Zaizen-san,” Homura says softly before handing her his glasses – Aoi is too stunned by the somehow too familiar glint in his eyes to do anything but take them for now.“Fighting with guys like them used to be my life. So,Imay be unexpectedly strong.”----Or the fic that nobody asked for, where Takeru is really kind of terrible at this whole Secret Identity Thing and Meitantei Zaizen Aoi finally gets into gear and on his case.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> …Honestly, idek.

The weeks after the final confrontation with the Ignis and the fall of the Mirror VRAINS are strange and busy – while her brother is kept occupied with the SOLtiS, SOLtech’s newest project, Aoi makes her way to the hospital each and every day to visit Miyu, taking advantage of every weekend and every hour that she doesn’t need for school work.

She doesn’t go to the Link VRAINS – well, can’t; SOLtech had to close it down after recent events. Even so, Blue Angel’s inbox is full with requests that ask her to host events on private servers… she doesn’t spare them even a glance. She’s matured beyond the Charisma duelist she used to be, she thinks.

She doesn’t slip into Blue Maiden’s skin either, but well…

For all that she still wears her duel disk with her… sometimes it just hurts to look at it, even if Aqua was with her only for a short time. But it’s fine, even so… right? Because Miyu is awake again.

In hindsight, Aoi knows that there are some areas that are less than safe, even in Japan and even in a city with as much security cameras as Den City. Still, she hadn’t thought much of taking the shortcut through the lower city from the hospital back to the inner district. It’s not too far from Ema’s hide-hole, where they had worked from after all, and she hadn’t felt unsafe their either.

That might have been a mistake, it had turned out when she had noticed the group of slightly unkempt looking men has started to follow her… suddenly surrounding her from all sides.

“Watcha doing here, missy?” one of them asks, leering greedily at her.

“I don’t want any trouble.” Aoi replies shortly and tries to push past him, only to be pushed back against the wall of the building they have cornered her by again.

“Not so fast,” the biggest (and ugliest) of them says. “We gotta talk about the matter of toll first. Your duel disk will do nicely.”

“Let go of me!” Aoi shouts angrily as the thug grabs her wrist and pulls it forward to inspect the disk on her wrist.

“The newest model! Looks like we sure got unexpectedly lucky here, boys!” the leader announces with a leer. “Who knows what else she’s hiding on her!”

“I said, _let go_!!” Aoi repeats, tugging on her left wrist, while hugging her bag close to herself with her other arm and pulling backwards. A (admittedly undignified) squeal escapes her when the thug lets go of her and sends her stumbling backwards into a wall.

This isn’t good, she thinks, cold dread settling in her stomach. She has no line of escape, and she can’t expect anyone to come to her rescue. One of the thugs reaches for her again, and Aoi can’t help but close her eyes, awaiting the inevitable–

“I think, Zaizen-san asked you to let her go.”

Aoi gasps in surprise, eyes flying open to see a boy clad in her school’s uniform holding the thug’s wrist. It’s only at second glance that she can put a name to his face – he’s the transfer student that had joined them in the middle of the year, no? Homura?

“Who the hell are you, bastard?” the leader thug growls, while tugging as fruitlessly at his own wrist as Aoi had just moments before.

His underling makes a surprise noise of recognition, a laugh escaping him as he says: “Boss, dat’s the country bumpkin dat moved into the shithole three streets down. Told ya we should shake ‘im down sometimes!”

The leader thug tugs on his wrist again and this time Homura lets go, his bag sliding of his shoulder with a thud a second later.

“Homura-kun, right?” Aoi says, taking a step towards him – he is going to get beaten up on her behalf, and for all that Aoi is a little glad that he is here, that she isn’t alone with the thugs anymore, she doesn’t want to see him harmed either. “You don’t have to–”

“Don’t worry, Zaizen-san,” Homura says softly before handing her his glasses – Aoi is too stunned by the somehow too familiar glint in his eyes to do anything but take them for now.

“Fighting with guys like them used to be my life. So, _I_ may be unexpectedly strong.”

Aoi freezes, gasping at the shift in his phrasing and how incredibly familiar it seems, even though she knows for certain that she has barely exchanged two words with the other boy.

Just where-

“Don’t take us lightly!” the leader thug growls, throwing the first punch… and stumbles when Homura dodges him with an ease that his appearance belies and the swagger in this movement is another piece to the puzzle that attempts to solve itself before Aoi.

Within the blink of an eye the thug’s leader lies stunned on his back due what Aoi is almost certain to have been a perfectly executed shoulder throw, and two of his underlings are quick to follow.

Homura, from what she can tell by his stance and sideway expression… is bored!?

The thugs pick themselves up quickly after that, scrambling away while halfheartedly swearing vengeance on Homura.

“You are welcome to try,” he snorts, then sighs as he combs back his bangs with his right. “Makes me almost miss the time that I used to have a reputation for this sort of thing. Neh, Fla–”

He freezes when his eyes fall to his left wrist, raw grief that makes Aoi’s heart ache passing over his face, but then his expression smooths over, and he smiles faintly as he steps back towards her. There is no trace of threat in his stance left now, just a hint of sheepishness and the faint smile that he had greeted her with months back when he had introduced himself to her.

“Are you all right, Zaizen-san?” he asks as he gently takes his glasses back out of her hands, and Aoi can’t help but stare at him… it is though he has a second head. Or rather, a second personality.

“I am… thanks to you,” she says after a second, when she finally manages to get a grip on herself again.

“Don’t mention it,” he replies with a faint laugh and shrug. “It felt good to let loose again; it’s been a while since I put _those_ skills to use. I probably should be doing more to keep in form anyway. Grandpa will have my hide if he ends up throwing me again when I go back to visit home.”

“Anyway,” he continues before she can ask – about his grandparents or the ‘shithole’ that the thugs had mentioned him to be living at. “Do you want me to accompany you to the bus or somewhere?”

She shakes her head mutely, frowning faintly. “I’ll be fine by myself. But thank you for the offer, Homura-kun.”

“Well… if you are sure,” he says with a nod, then reaches down to pick up the bag he dropped. “See you tomorrow, Zaizen-san.”

She just nods as she turns away and continues her way home, while the nagging feeling of familiarity keeps bothering her.

Hours later in the safety of her room, after going over her memory of the encounter again and again while mindlessly watching the reruns of the duels they had played against the rogue Ignis’ and Bohman, her eyes drift over the names of the duelists that the public has deemed to credit the most for their victory – Playmaker, Blue Maiden… and–

“…Soulburner?”

_(But… there’s no way. Right?)_

_\--- To Be Continued ---_


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Homura’s eyes light up a little when he sees her, though he waits until he and Fujiki have caught up to her until he says: “Morning, Zaizen-san! I hope you had no more trouble last night?”
> 
> Aoi shakes her head, and finds her lips twitching up into a tiny smile – normally she is wary of people, of her peers, because usually they want to befriend her for the sake of her connections rather than herself. After last night though, she finds herself disarmed by Homura’s cheery attitude.
> 
> “There was no more trouble,” she confirms. “Thank you, again.”
> 
> “Trouble? Did something happen?” Fujiki asks with a frown, glancing between them, and Aoi can’t help but tense up. Neither Fujiki nor Homura seem to be gossips, and yet…
> 
> “Nah, it’s not important,” Homura says, a faint grin flashing over his face. “Zaizen-san just caught me getting a bit of exercise.”
> 
> \---
> 
> Or, the one where Detective Aoi goes to work, Takeru visits the Duel Club and Shima really steps into it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh god, I wrote 2.3k in like twelve hours, idek how. This chapter wanted out and the episode today definitely gave me the boost of inspiration I needed! |D
> 
> Also, I went back and adjusted some details in Chapter 01 to fit with Season 03. I imagine I'll probably break away from canon at some point and just make a S3 AU of this, but well. We'll see when that actually happens!
> 
> For now, enjoy!

Aoi barely suppresses a yawn as she makes her way up to her school – she had been far too wound up to find sleep easily last night, after the almost-mugging and the flash of inspiration that had followed later…

The idea, the thought that Homura Takeru might be Soulburner, doesn’t let go of her even now… because the more she thinks about it… Homura had transferred in the middle of the year and that, shortly after Soulburner had first left his mark on the Link VRAINS.

That alone isn’t much more than a hint though, no more than the similarities in speech pattern that had shone through when he had helped her last night – both merely pieces to the puzzle that has placed itself before her.

For a moment Aoi wonders if she should pursue this line of thought any further – what good can come of finding Soulburner’s true identity now that he no longer has an Ignis anyway.

Playmaker.

Finding Soulburner would likely mean finding Playmaker as well…

Just months ago, she wouldn’t have hesitated to look into him, to try her best to find out more for her brother’s sake – but back then, Soulburner had held the Fire Ignis… Flame.

Back then, they hadn’t been allies against the rouge Light and Wind Ignis’, and the AIs they had created.

Back then, Aoi hadn’t met Aqua.

Maybe, for once, it’s not about her brother though.

Maybe for once, she should find out the truth… just to know, and to connect to one of her classmates. For all that she has Miyu back now, she doesn’t dare to talk to her about Aqua, not knowing what Miyu had went through…

If Homura Takeru is Soulburner…

It’s Homura’s voice that snaps her out of her thoughts, a joyful greeting – “Good morning, Yusaku!” – that makes her turn just in time to see him bump his shoulder to that of Fujiki Yusaku, the quiet boy that had found her on the roof months ago and who sometimes mans the food truck at the Den City courtyard.

It’s kind of strange to see them fall into step so easily… Fujiki has always struck her as a loner that has little desire to connect to the rest of their year. Meanwhile, Homura seems like someone who would make friends easily, and yet…

Homura’s eyes light up a little when he sees her, though he waits until he and Fujiki have caught up to her until he says: “Morning, Zaizen-san! I hope you had no more trouble last night?”

Aoi shakes her head, and finds her lips twitching up into a tiny smile – normally she is wary of people, of her peers, because usually they want to befriend her for the sake of her connections rather than herself. After last night though, she finds herself disarmed by Homura’s cheery attitude.

“There was no more trouble,” she confirms. “Thank you, again.”

“Trouble? Did something happen?” Fujiki asks with a frown, glancing between them, and Aoi can’t help but tense up. Neither Fujiki nor Homura seem to be gossips, and yet…

“Nah, it’s not important,” Homura says, a faint grin flashing over his face. “Zaizen-san just caught me getting a bit of exercise.”

Aoi is so startled by that wording that she can’t help but laugh quietly, relaxing when her eyes meet Homura’s.

“That’s one way to put it,” she says, and though she sees a gesture passing between the two boys that likely means that Homura will tell Fujiki later, she is no longer worried. Neither of them is about to spill her encounter with the bad crowd to the rest of the school.

The three of them fall into step, making their way up into the school building and Aoi almost wants to ask the other two about their experience with their English homework assignment – it’s one of the few classes the three of them share, when–

“Zai-zen! Fu-ji-ki!”

She barely manages not to sigh as Shima Naoki catches up with them, and a faint flash on Fujiki’s face indicates that he finds their loud classmate similar exhausting.

“Neither of you has been to Duel Club in weeks!” Shima complains loudly and in a tone of voice that almost makes Aoi flinch from irritation.

“I’ve been busy,” she answers curtly, and it is the truth after all. Miyu is more important than the Duel Club.

“Me too,” Fujiki adds carelessly. “And I don’t remember hearing that the Club has mandatory attendance.”

“Gah!” says Shima. “What kind of duelists are you two, if you won’t even give up an hour of your day to dedicate to dueling! You have ways to go, if you ever want to get on Playmaker’s level! I would know, as his soulmate!”

Before either of them can say anything to that boast – Aoi cannot help but hope that whoever Playmaker is, he doesn’t have to put up with Shima in his life; from her time as Blue Angel she knows: some fans you are better off meeting never at all – Shima turns towards Homura.

“And you, Transfer-Student! Didn’t you say that you are interested in joining? Today is showcase day, so it is the perfect time to learn from my superior skills!”

“I-Is that so?” Homura asks, more startled than anything.

Considering what Aoi had seen of those skills during Brave Max’s duel with Ghost Girl, Homura has a right to be startled – especially if he is indeed Soulburner, given his history…

“I guess, I’ll make sure to come by then,” he says after a moment. “Please go easy on me, Shima-san.”

Now it’s Aoi’s time to look startled, a small frown tugging on her lips as she watches him. If Homura is Soulburner, then watching him duel at school… no. She doubts that he would use his Salamangreat deck.

That would be far too easy, after all.

* * *

 

The hours in class fly by in a hurry, and for all that Aoi usually rushes off towards visiting Miyu soon after… today, she stays behind. It’s like the mere idea of finding Soulburner’s real identity, and – by extension – the possibility of solving the mystery around Playmaker, lighted a fire under her skin.

She needs to know… not for her brother, but for her own sake.

It turns out, the Duel Club isn’t the only club holding its showcase today – there are several clubs taking advantage of the nice weather and the fact that the student collective has just survived the midterm exams to recruit new members – and so, the hallways of the school are almost reaching the bursting point.

Aoi allows the flow to take her towards the club – passing the robotics club on the way, and even with the people all around her, just a glance tells her that they are holding a presentation about the improvements that the SOLtiS are going to bring to the future of humanity.

Compared to the rush to that presentation, the Duel Club certainly pales… though, considering the small number of members they have to start with, Aoi supposes they will be thankful for any new student that visits.

And well… the interest in Duel Monsters as a whole has been waning ever since the Mirror VRAINS incident anyway.

“Zaizen-san! It has been a while,” the Club’s president Hosoda greets her, left hand reaching up to adjust his glasses… and maybe also frown a little disapproving at her.

Unlike with Shima, she feels the need to apologize and explain herself to the upperclass-student, bowing before she says: “I’m very sorry. A friend of mine is in the hospital and I’ve been visiting her.”

“I see. Still, Zaizen-san, please be sure to attend more regularly again. Your presence is missed.”

With any other member of the club, Aoi would have assumed that rather than her, the potential connection to her brother is what is being missed, but the president had always seemed genuine in his effort to lead the club and treat every member as an equal.

He does mean his words, likely.

She straightens again and nods. “I’ll do my best.”

That seems to be enough for the president. “I’m glad that you are here though; we can really use the extra set of eyes to supervise and judge the showcase duels. There will always be a club member dueling a visitor… some who may be new to actually dueling themselves. Be sure to help them where you can.”

Aoi nods in agreement – this works out well enough for her plan to observe Shima and Homura dueling anyway.

“Please help the others prepare the tables, I’ll set up the projector in the meantime,” he continues, moving towards the computer up front of their club room. “We will be showing some of the newly released footage from the duels that saved the Link VRAINS.”

Aoi mostly hopes that they wouldn’t be showing her duel against Bohman – she has seen the footage, and though she knows that she couldn’t really have done much differently, that there hadn’t been any chance for her to win that duel… the loss of Aqua still hurts.

She snaps out of those thoughts when Shima announces himself loudly: “Hereeee, we are! Come on, come on, Transfer-Student!”

Homura Takeru stumbles slightly when Shima pulls him into the club room – looking a little sheepish and tugging seemingly fruitlessly at his arm. After the day before though Aoi knows… if he really wanted to break the grip that Shima has on him, Homura wouldn’t have any trouble at all at doing it.

“Shima-kun! Kindly unhand our visitor,” the president calls out, frowning faintly as he continues to fiddle with the computer.

“Ah, I hope we are not too early?” Homura asks after pulling free from Shima’s grip. “Do you need any help setting things up here?”

“No, no.” Hosoda shakes his head. “We are almost ready. Have you brought your own deck? If not, we have a couple of pre-constructed ones to choose from for beginners.”

“Unfortunately, I only found out about the showcase today!” Homura says, rubbing the back of his neck. “So, I’ll gladly take you up on your offer.”

Aoi watches him from the corner of her eye as he browses through the decks, ignoring Shima’s babble in favor to watch Homura’s expression while he looks through the cards, a faint smile making its way on his face as he chooses his deck.

“Ehh? Fire Kings!? That deck hasn’t gotten support in like a decade!” Shima complains. “To choose a Fire deck… I hope, you aren’t a fan of that Playmaker-wanna-be, Soulburner?”

“Soulburner?” Homura asks, looking a little confused as he tilts his head. “Who’s that?”

“Have you been living behind the moon or something?” Shima complains. “Anyone duelist worth their salt should know about the people that saved the Link VRAINS.”

“I only recently moved to Den City,” Homura explains, rubbing the back of his neck again. “It’s been a little too overwhelming to keep track of everything that goes on in the real world… never mind the virtual–”

Homura cuts himself off, his face falling when he catches sight of something behind Aoi, eyes widening a little while the grip he has on the deck he’s chosen tightens and his hands tremble faintly. Only when she turns herself, she notices that the president has finally got the video stream up and running. From what she can tell it’s one of the duels that must have happened after her defeat.

It’s Playmaker that’s dueling in an area that looks like Den City’s courtyard, right down to the food truck… and his opponent is a bearded, trench-coat wearing man that seems to be in his twenties.

“Ah, that’s the first Playmaker duel!” Shima says with a nod. “I saw that yesterday – his opponent is that hotdog stand owner, who opens up shop at the courtyard sometimes. No idea what took Playmaker so long to beat up that old man, though. As his sworn soulmate, I know better than anyone that Playmaker is stronger than that.”

Normally, Aoi wouldn’t pay any attention to Shima’s babble and rather watch the duel itself – she hasn’t seen that one yet, and no matter what Shima says, if Playmaker really had trouble with this opponent, the hotdog stand owner must be a formidable duelist – but right now, she can’t help but stare at Homura and the way his emotions keep flashing over his face, irritation and anger at forefront before he smooths it over into a blank, narrowed eyed expression.

Shima still hasn’t stopped talking.

“I suggest you stop here, Shima-san,” Homura interrupts him, now calm in a way that belies his earlier anger (and only serves to strengthen Aoi’s suspicions, because she’s heard this exact tone before, when Soulburner had dueled the Wind Ignis), his voice hard. “Or you may say something that _I_ won’t be able to forgive you.”

Shima freezes and turns towards Homura, who laughs faintly, the edge gone from his voice again, almost as though it had never been there. “Or I imagine, that’s something Playmaker might say if he heard you disrespecting his opponent, no? I don’t live quite that behind the moon that I don’t know _that_.”

“O-Of course.” Shima stammers as he settles on the opposite side from Homura, chastised and maybe a little intimidated by the sudden mood swing. “Sorry, ‘bout that.”

Aoi settles by their table, declaring: “I’ll be judge for your duel. Homura-kun, if you have any questions, please just ask.”

Homura nods, and smiles at her. “I think, I’ll be fine – it’s been a while since I last dueled, but I still remember the basics.”

Needless to say… the duel is a slaughter, and even though Homura is nothing but friendly through it, the way he handles his cards only makes Aoi certain… she has found Soulburner – right here, at her school.

_(His connection, and Playmaker’s to that that hotdog stand owner… that’s something that seems worth looking into before she confronts him for good._

_Best that she finds all the answers she can, after all.)_

_\--- To Be Continued ---_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Haha, don't expect the next chapter to be quite as quick – I'm waiting for next week's episode at very least for _reasons_.
> 
> But gosh, I'm having so much fun with this concept – I need RL interaction between those children like burning. Please S3, deliver more of this!
> 
> Please consider leaving me a comment! :3

**Author's Note:**

> Idek, this was supposed to be maybe a two-shot where Takeru and Aoi talk about lost Ignis and Takeru gets to visit Miyu at some point, because Lost Kids really need to interact more, but Aoi wanted to get to play detective, so here we are. 
> 
> At this point, who even knows what might happen – I certainly don't anymore. orz
> 
> Please consider leaving a comment?


End file.
